A Moment Like This
by Chiharu-senpai
Summary: Revised somewhat, and now continuing. SP! in primary school, before Nagisa, Hikari, and Kaori were around. Tells how Remon and Kizuna met and where Kagome got Pashibaru from. RemonxKizuna / ChiyoxKagome.
1. Every Thorn Has Its Rose

Hello, ladies and gents.

Lately I've been in the mood for going over past works, revising them, and continuing them if they're incomplete. I went over and revised my K-ON! fic, Recording, and after going over A Moment Like This I found myself wanting to continue it. Truth be told, I don't remember where the story was originally supposed to go, but I'll figure something out. If all goes well I'll see about getting back to work on AGUA, though I can't make any promises.

* * *

><p><strong>A MOMENT LIKE THIS<strong>

**Chapter One**

**Every Thorn Has Its Rose**

_Mr. Watase  
>Regular General Studies<br>Room D3_

The third year with green hair winced, stepping out of the front office. The word _regular _made her chest ache. This was not supposed to happen. But it had happened. Natsume Remon, honors student and the apple of her parents' eyes, was being bumped down to regular education.

Sighing, she threw her bag over her shoulder and trudged up the stairs to the third floor. For as long as she had been at St. Olaf Primary Academy, Remon had only been on the first floor. Having never climbed the stairs here before, she was ignorant to the hold-down-your-skirt-while-going-up-stairs rule. As a result some younger boys sang "I see London, I see France" while the older boys whistled and gave cat calls.

Remon gritted her teeth. Her cheeks burning, she brought her hand around to the back of her skirt. If she hadn't been so bad at math this wouldn't be happening.

She reached the third floor. The hallway was set up in a horseshoe fashion: classrooms in the horseshoe with a lounge with vending machines in the center. Fourth and fifth years skipping class tended to favor the lounge. They laughed uproariously and used words Mr. and Mrs. Natsume would never let their daughter use. Remon wondered why these senpais weren't busted for ditching.

But that wasn't important now. Finding Mr. Watase's room was important. Remon started circling around the horseshoe. She squinted at the room numbers, a faint whiskery pain shooting through her eyes. She needed glasses.

All the room numbers were a letter and three digits: D301, D302, etcetera. D3 was nowhere to be found. Remon made the rounds a few more times, feeling a bit silly for getting lost. She must have looked stupid to those lounge senpais, just wandering about. She did not want to ask them for help, but she was left with no other choice.

Remon checked her wallet. She had two hundred yen, just enough to buy a drink. She strode boldly into the lounge, trying to appear calm and cool. But really, her hands fidgeted as she slipped the coins in. She uncapped her bottle of water and took a long gulp from it as she noticed a boy was doing. She mimicked the pose of a tall blonde girl: her hip popped out with one hand on it, the neck of her bottle clutched daintily between her thumb and middle finger. She called out to the group of people, "Could you please tell me where D3 is?"

The senpais continued their conversation, none of them looking up.

_Maybe they didn't hear me. _Remon knew she had a soft voice. She minced over to them as she had seen a girl do once. She repeated, more authoritatively, "Could you tell me where D3 is?"

That brought their conversation to a grinding halt. They all fell silent and stared at Remon. One of the boys wordlessly swirled his Pepsi in his bottle. The girls cringed. Remon glared, trying to show them that she meant business.

The blonde girl whose pose Remon had been affecting spoke up. "Why do you, like, hold yourself that way? Do you, like, have a, like, joint problem?"

The blonde laughed at her own joke and the boy nearby joined her. Remon noticed that this girl snorted when she laughed. Charming.

Another girl spoke up. "So like? This girl? Is like? Seriously? Like the biggest loser? I've ever met." This girl was an uptalker, the worst kind. Remon winced.

"I think she's going to cry," a boy laughed.

"That's, like, a kouhai baby for you," the blonde said. Again, she snort-laughed at her joke. The sound of her laughter made Remon sick.

A boy with spiky brown hair and hypnotic blue eyes leaned forward, grinning. "Would you like me to eat your—"

"Ew. Taka-kun. She's, like, five," the blonde chided. "You're, like, such a pedophile! And she's ugly."

These people weren't going to help. In a tight voice Remon said, "All I wanted were some directions!" And she headed out of the lounge. Behind her, the boys exploded with raucous laughter. One of them called her back over. Remon turned back around.

She had to squint, but it appeared one of them had his middle finger raised.

Remon blinked. She didn't altogether understand the gesture. But it wasn't what she was looking for. Sighing, she headed out of the liunge. She was furious with herself for not retorting to their insults. Already a million comebacks were flooding into her head. Some people had a natural instinct to argue and insult when the time was right. Remon was not one of those people.

_I should have slugged that blonde idiot_, she thought. But, of course, Remon couldn't have done that. She didn't have the nerve to hit people.

What was the deal with those senpais? What of hers did that boy want to eat? Her arm? Why did that make him a pedophile?

She wanted to throw up. All of those boys had their hair gelled to _make _it look messy. The cringes on those girls' faces - almost as if they had stood in front of a mirror for hours, sculpting and perfecting their cringes. The hair, the makeup, the cologne, the way they talked. Everything was just so _fake._

_And she's ugly._

"Yeah, well, let's see how pretty _you _are without all that makeup. You're wearing enough eye shadow to paint my bedroom," Remon said out loud. That was what she should've said in the lounge.

Remon spent a fruitless ten minutes trying to find D3 or a person who would tell her where D3 was. Whenever she approached a senpai with the question, she either got ignored, glared at, or insulted. She snorted as she leaned against a wall. The senpais here were useless. In the honors wing, the senpais had only been too happy to help and guide the kouhais. Here, kouhais were treated like dirt. One fourth year had given her directions, but Remon ended up in front of a broom closet. The senpais here were such jerks!

"Are you okay? You look a little lost."

Remon looked up to see a boy approaching her. Squinting revealed that he was close to her age, which was nine (but he could've been older), chubby, and wore his uniform improperly. The St. Olaf uniform was a yellow polo, black sweater, black trousers for boys, black knee-length skirts for girls. This boy had his sleeves rolled up and his polo unbuttoned. She hoped she wouldn't be dealing with another faker.

"I need directions to D3, please," said Remon.

"Watase's class…? Hey, we're in the same class! I'm Souma! What's your name?"

"Remon."

"Remon…What a pretty name…Just like you." He chuckled when he saw Remon blush. "What, you don't think so?"

"Well…"

"Itoshi!"

Both boy and girl looked up in surprise. Remon couldn't see at first, but eventually the blurry form of a rapidly advancing girl came into view. Remon squinted. This girl was definitely her age, wore her uniform properly, and had brown hair done up in pigtails. Souma did not look happy to see her.

The brown-haired girl narrowed her eyes at him. "What the heck are you trying to do to this poor girl, Itoshi?"

Remon blinked. Was his name really Itoshi?

"Hey, back off, Hyuuga. I'm just showing her to Watase's room."

"Hah. More like you'll show her to the back of your mom's Hummer, you skeeze! And if you took her to Watase-sensei's room, then he would know that you're ditching!"

"Oh? Oh? And what are _you _doing out here?" Souma (Itoshi?) challenged.

"Getting a drink of water. I have the hall pass." The girl winningly held up a slat of wood with the Kanji for _hall pass _on it. She stepped closer to Remon and slipped her arm around her waist. The bold, intimate gesture unnerved shy Remon somewhat, but she was grateful for the rescue. "If you so much as lay a finger on her, Itoshi, I will take this hall pass and shove it down your throat. You got that?"

"Okay, okay! Pull your panties outta your butt and relax! I'll leave her alone."

"Good. Now get lost."

And he did. As he ambled off Remon heard him call this girl a "dyke." What was a dyke?

Remon sighed with relief. "Thanks for saving me."

"No problem-o." Remon noticed that this girl still had her arm clamped around her waist. The girl glared at anybody who gawked. "I'm just a heroine of the hallway, ya know?"

"Souma said…your name was Hyuuga, right?"

"That's my first name. My _surname_…" She paused for Remon to marvel at her use of a big word. "…is Kizuna." She frowned. "And that is not Souma. That is Itoshi, first-class liar and drama provider."

Remon blinked. Wasn't that a line from a song?

Kizuna looked at her. "What's _your _name?"

"Um, Remon. Natsume Remon."

Kizuna put out her hand and Remon shook it. "Pleased to meet you, Remon-chan."

_Chan? _the green-haired girl wondered absently. Were they already calling each other "chan"?

"That's a weak little handshake you got there, Remon-chan. You'll never get a job with a handshake like that." Kizuna pumped Remon's hand to show her how it was done.

_Kizuna's so direct and blunt. _Remon found that a little refreshing.

"Obviously, you're not new to St. Olaf," said Kizuna, a question in her eyes.

"I'm, uh, new to regular education." Remon explained, "I used to be in the gifted program. Then my grade in math dropped down to a D last quarter. So here I am," she concluded with a sigh.

"You need glasses don't you?" Kizuna said suddenly.

Remon sweat-dropped. _Did she even hear a word of what I just said? _She was beginning to wonder if Kizuna had ADD.

"I'm just saying," Kizuna added, "because you squint and blink a lot."

"Um, yes. I'm getting glasses next week."

"You stammer a lot, too."

"Uh…nervous habit…?"

"I like you. You're funny." Kizuna was giggling. "I could've figured you were an honors nerd. You're too nice to be in regular ed. All regular ed kids are trash, believe me."

Remon shook her head. "You're not. I think you're really nice."

"Aww, Remon-chan's so sweet!" Kizuna pinched her cheek. The green-haired girl shyly swatted her hand away. Between the arm around her waist and the cheek pinching, this was becoming too much for Remon. "You're blushing," Kizuna cooed. "Girls are so cute when they blush!"

Remon pulled away nervously. "U-um! Uh! I n-need to f-find D3. C-could you, um, help me, please?" She held out her classroom assignment. Her hand shook and the paper flapped.

Kizuna looked pleased. "That's Watase-sensei's class. We're in class together!" She grabbed Remon's hand. "It's almost as if we were destined to be best friends. C'mon, I'll take you there! I was on my way back anyway."

Kizuna skipped ahead of her, humming "Miss Susie Had a Tugboat." Behind her, a more self-conscious Remon was being dragged along.

* * *

><p>Room D3 was not in the horseshoe or the lounge. It was a surprisingly large classroom tucked away near the stairwell. Kizuna returned the hall pass and immediately went to her seat. The desks were set up in pairs. Unfortunately, there was an odd number of students, and Kizuna was the odd girl out.<p>

Mr. Watase, a tall man with gray hair and ice-blue eyes, studied Remon's classroom assignment and his roster. "Natsume-san…Take that empty desk next to Hyuuga-san."

Remon heard some snickers, felt her face burn. At least Mr. Watase didn't make her stand in front of the class and introduce herself.

"I finally have a partner!" Kizuna whispered happily as Remon sat down. Remon smiled shyly. She took out her blue notebook and began taking notes for science.

As Mr. Watase lectured Remon let her eyes stray over to Kizuna. The brown-haired girl was listening attentively and nodding occasionally. _She's a goofball, but she's a hard worker. _Remon liked that. She smiled.

Kizuna looked at Remon. The green-haired girl started and looked back at her notebook. Warm blood rushed up to her face. Her pencil slipped from her clammy hands. She heard Kizuna giggle.

After a few minutes, Remon braved another sideways glance. Kizuna was writing in her notebook; she was smiling and blushing.


	2. When Jokes Get Serious

**A MOMENT LIKE THIS**

**Chapter Two**

**When Jokes Get Serious**

"Wow! Those are HUGE!" Kizuna exclaimed.

Remon looked up in shock. Without thinking, she brought a hand to her chest. Her face burned. _Of course she's not talking about that. _She glared at her math homework incomplete on her desk. She had noticed lately that the other girls had started to grow. Just yesterday she had heard two girls, third years like herself, talk about one of them getting her period. Remon had thought that her body might follow by example, but it, like her, marched to the beat of a different drum. Namely, the Kiddie Kettledrum. Or the Flat Flute. Wait, that wasn't a drum…?

"I meant your glasses," Kizuna clarified, smirking. Now that Remon could see, she caught Kizuna's brown eyes sparkling. If it were possible, Remon's face turned redder.

Kizuna cocked her head. "Not talking today? The Day of Silence was in April, friend."

Remon started and waved her hands frantically. "Oh, no! I'm talking! I'm fine! I'm-I'm not into girls-"

"I didn't say you were. But since you've stepped up to the plate…"

"N-no! I'm, uh, uh…"

"Oh, would you just relax." Kizuna was laughing. She noticed that Remon only stammered when she was nervous, and she tended to get nervous around Kizuna.

The bell rang and Kizuna took her seat next to Remon. The Headmaster made some announcements over the intercom, but no one listened to him. This was another difference Remon noticed between honors and regular education: honors students never talked during announcements. Come to think of it, honors students only talked when they were spoken to. Remon was slowly but surely adjusting to all the civil disobedience that was common in regular class. Students argued with Mr. Watase, some had to be removed from class, and the already slow curriculum was pushed back another day. Kizuna argued occasionally, but her arguments dealt with larger ideals and humanitarian concepts relating to the lesson rather than Mr. Watase as a teacher. Remon had no idea Kizuna was such a progressive thinker.

"You're pretty smart," said Remon at lunch. "Why aren't you in honors?"

"Ehh, you know?" Kizuna said, sighing. "I haven't got the work ethic for it. Besides, it's too competitive."

Remon nodded as she stirred her generic mac and cheese. She hated cafeteria food. Honors _was_ competitive, and she was sure her old classmates would never welcome a regular education student in their class. They would cry foul. They would stone Kizuna to death. They would drop by her house in the middle of the night and strangle her until she said she would leave. Remon didn't speak any Latin, but she was sure her honors class's motto meant Go Away or We Don't Like You Either.

Ever since Remon met Kizuna the brown-haired girl had bombarded her with the most seemingly random questions. Each set of questions had a theme. Today was birthday-question day.

"What's your birthstone?"

Remon laid down her fork and considered. "Emerald," she finally answered.

"You're a May birthday?"

"Mm-hmm. May 25th."

"You're a Gemini," Kizuna nodded. "I suspected as much. You've got the hands of a Gemini." She reached out and grabbed Remon's hand. "You're a nervous wreck, too."

Remon started. The combination of Kizuna holding her hand and making one of her blatant blithe Hyuuga Kizuna statements set a bashful glow to Remon's cheeks and a nervous stammer to her voice.

"U-uh! I-I'm nervous, but I'm n-not, um, a wreck!" She swallowed. Then she noticed the garnet stone on Kizuna's ring. "W-what about you, um, Miss January Birthday?"

"January 21st. I'm an Aquarius: the revolutionary."

"The freak," Remon retorted. She had read a bit on astrology (thanks to Mrs. Natsume, who got her into it), and she remembered reading that the Aquarian tends to be a different drummer.

Kizuna seemed a bit shocked by Remon's snappish retort. Then she rebounded. "The creative," she said, grinning. She loved a good argument every now and then.

"The aloof and impersonal."

Kizuna wore a look of mock shock on her face. "Natsume Remon, do I strike you as aloof and impersonal?"

"Yes." The reply came not from Remon, but Itoshi. He set his tray down on the table and sat down. Though Kizuna frequently argued with him, it turned out Itoshi was actually her friend. They were very weird friends.

"Why are you holding hands?" Itoshi asked. "Are you lezzies or am I late for grace?"

Nervous Remon would've promptly withdrawn her hand. Bold Kizuna not only kept her grip on Remon's hand; she actually squeezed it. "Two girls can hold hands," she said. "I don't see any law against it."

Itoshi muttered something and dug into his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Remon tugged her hand back a little. "It's, um, not that I don't want to hold hands…" Well, it sort of was. People were staring. "…but I need this hand to, uh, eat lunch with."

Kizuna understood and released Remon's hand.

Itoshi gestured at the empty chair. "Where's the InuYasha reject?"

"_Kagome _is retaking a history test," Kizuna huffed. "She said she would be late."

Itoshi had all sorts of weird nicknames for his friends. Mostly, though, he called people by their first names.

Remon wordlessly sipped chocolate milk. Lately she had been noticing a pattern between Kizuna and Itoshi. Sometimes Itoshi accused her of being a lesbian, particularly where Remon was involved. Kizuna would not deny his statements, but she argued against them. At this point Itoshi would fall into a sullen silence. Sometimes he would completely ignore her. Between the two of them, Itoshi struck Remon as more aloof and impersonal. She wondered why he was that way.

* * *

><p>Tsukidate Chiyo tore through the first floor hallways of St. Olaf Primary, her recently purchased text books (costing somewhere around one hundred thousand yen) clutched close to her chest. The little second year had just transferred to Olaf, and she was looking to pick up her classroom assignment.<p>

Where was the front office?

Chiyo huffed and stopped running; she would get in trouble for doing so. St. Olaf was not only big, it was winding. She had spent the whole morning searching for the front office. It occurred to her that maybe she should check the second and third floors, but that wouldn't make it the "front" office, right? That would be an oxymoron, right? Or was it a paradox? Chiyo always got the two mixed up.

This wasn't helping.

_I'll check around the first floor one more time. _Chiyo had been telling herself that all morning. She shook her head, her red ribbons flapping, as she rounded a corner…

CRASH! "_Itai_!"

An explosion of pencils and papers erupted in Chiyo's vision as she collided with someone rounding the same corner from the opposite direction. She dropped her text books; one of them hit her foot. She cried out, her other foot hooked into this someone's ankle, and the two of them fell in a tangled heap on the floor.

"Gomenasai!" Chiyo cried automatically before she saw who she crashed into. She looked and saw a small kittenish girl with curly brown hair. Her face was screwed up in pain as she gingerly rubbed her back.

"I'm so sorry!" Chiyo said again. She scrambled to her feet, and held her hand out for this girl to take. "Are you hurt?"

The girl looked up at her. Her eyes were the color of pine needles, hooded yet alert. Her expression was remote, her gaze penetrating. Without saying anything, she took Chiyo's hand and allowed herself to be pulled up. Chiyo realized that this girl was a lot shorter than she was; the blue-haired girl concluded that this was a first year. She addressed her appropriately.

"Gomen ne_, _kouhai…" She ignored the enigmatic smirk that showed up on this girl's face. "I just transferred here. I'm Tsukidate Chiyo." She bowed politely; the girl also bowed. Chiyo straightened and waited for this girl to introduce herself. No introduction came. The girl just stood and stared, emerald eyes boring into the transfer student. She was kind of giving Chiyo the creeps. The girl knelt to the floor and gathered up her text books. She held them out to Chiyo.

Chiyo accepted them gratefully. "Uh, thanks."

The girl gave a single nod and stared.

Chiyo edged away from her. She was wondering if this child was mute. That would be less weird than a girl who simply never talked. Chiyo shuddered. She was about to dash off when she got an idea. She turned back to the silent girl.

"Could you tell me where the front office is?"

More silence. The small girl gazed solemnly at Chiyo, who was about to just leave when the girl pointed straight down the hall then hooked her hand around to the right.

"Down the hall and to the right…" Chiyo mumbled. "Thanks." She waved vaguely and loped to the end of the hall, shaken. What a spooky kid. Utterly quiet, but she had the friendliest stare, Chiyo decided. Hatsumi much…?

The transfer student chanced a backward glance to find the girl just staring after her, not moving, hardly blinking, and smiling.

* * *

><p>"Kagome-chan!" Kizuna greeted brightly, moving her bag from the second year's seat. "How was the history retake?"<p>

Wee Kagome smiled to show Kizuna that it had gone well.

Remon smiled. She liked Kagome. She saw a lot of herself in the curly haired girl. While Kizuna and Itoshi lorded over the conversation with their dumb arguments Remon and the equally ill-at-ease Kagome just sat, quietly poking their lunches with sporks. A deep sort of unspoken bond had formed between them.

Kizuna let Kagome in on what she had missed during her retake. "We talked a bit about astrology, which stemmed into an argument about whose sign is better." She smirked at Remon. "Tell ya what, Remon-chan. Let's arm wrestle to decide!"

Remon laughed. "Isn't that kind of immature? And that doesn't prove who's better."

"It certainly proves who's stronger." Remon was quite sure she'd lose this one. Kizuna rolled up her sleeve and set her elbow on the table. "C'mon. Unless you're chicken," she teased lightly.

Remon wasn't going to submit to Kizuna's strength of personality this time. A glint showed in her brown eyes as she replied boldly, "You're on."

Kizuna blinked, surprised. Then she grinned broadly and the two of them clasped hands. Kizuna realized that as shy as Remon was she never backed down from a challenge. This astounded and pleased the brown haired girl. She admired Remon's quiet yet sure reserve of strength.

Itoshi was the referee. While Kagome watched and chewed baby carrots he enclosed Remon and Kizuna's hands in his own to keep them from prematurely starting the match. He projected his voice, as if he was announcing the upcoming performance of Rihanna.

"Ladeeeeez h'and gentlemen! What you are about to witness is a duel of the signs! Representing Aquarius is Hyuuga Kizuna. Representing Gemini is Natsume Remon. The two will arm wrestle until one of them —"

"Can we skip the formalities and just freakin' do this?" Kizuna interrupted.

Itoshi huffed and glared at her. Then he sighed, "Well, you all get it. There's no time limit —"

"Except if the lunch bell rings," Kizuna pointed out.

"Stop ruining the atmosphere, Kiz! Okay, on three. One…two…three!"

Itoshi released their hands and their arm strengths met with a huge clash. Kizuna grunted in shock. "Oi! You're strong, Remon! I'm impressed."

Remon clutched the table leg for leverage and pushed against Kizuna's arm with all her might. She set her jaw and leaned forward.

Kizuna could feel her whole body shaking with effort. She tried setting her foot to the floor and pushing with her leg. It helped somewhat; mostly it just scooted her chair to the side. She also leaned forward, and the two locked stares. Or glares, more like. In Remon's eyes, behind her glasses, Kizuna could see her determination. Natsume REmon was hell-bent on winning this. _She's really focused_, thought Kizuna. _If only I could tear her guard down…_

Remon's breath blasted from her nostrils. Kizuna wrinkled her nose. _Nose-breath smells kind of skanky. _Then she got an idea. Without a second thought, Kizuna tilted her head to the right and smacked a kiss right on Remon's lips.

A hot jolt scalded Remon and her arm faltered. Kizuna slammed it on the table and counted, "_ten!_" Remon didn't even try to recover.

Itoshi shook his head disapprovingly. "Foul. Cheating. Honestly, Kiz. Why can't you use your lesbian powers for good instead of evil?"

"Oh, I think I was pretty good," Kizuna said blithely while cracking her knuckles. She smirked at the profusely blushing Remon. "But maybe we should ask Remon-chan. Was I good there?"

When Remon spoke she couldn't feel her lips move; they were still experiencing Kizuna's kiss. It was a brief, frightening kiss - warm and wet, with the brown-haired girl's soft face pressed against Remon's. "U-uh! You were — you were…um…"

Kizuna tilted her head warmly at Remon. _She's nervous. That's so cute! _Then she realized Kagome was gone.

"Oi! Where's the InuYasha reject?" Itoshi crowed.

* * *

><p>Chiyo stood in the cafeteria, shaky hands clutching her tray. She craned her neck and scanned the tables. She was looking for friendly people. However, Chiyo thought it was inappropriate to just sit at some stranger's table. She would need an invitation.<p>

Chiyo turned and cried out when she saw the silent girl from earlier right beside her. Recovering, she stuttered, "H-hello…"

The girl smiled and nodded.

They stood, staring at one another. Chiyo realized how hypnotic this girl's eyes were. She found herself not hearing or seeing anything but these twin emeralds. Even in her trance Chiyo wondered why this girl had come up to her with nothing to say.

"Do you talk?" she finally asked.

"Yes."

Chiyo caught the mocking tone in this girl's voice. "So now you're funny?"

The girl laughed. Her laugh was light and tinkly yet hearty. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I'm Kagome. Byakudan Kagome."

"Charmed," Chiyo said. "Tsukidate Chiyo." She continued to scan the cafeteria.

"Would you like to have lunch with me?"

"Just the two of us?" Chiyo asked, sounding uncertain.

Kagome shook her head, her soft brown curls bouncing. "With me and my friends."

She pointed out the table, which featured a husky boy and a brown-haired girl bickering while a blushing green-haired girl ate her lunch.

Chiyo blinked. _There's your invitation. Accept it. _And she did. Soon she was eating celery and listening to Kizuna and Itoshi's heated debate about Mr. Watase's homework policy. Neither Kagome nor Remon spoke. And Chiyo had nothing to say. So for her it was fairly dull until:

"Buh-Buh-Buh-Byakudan!"

Kagome looked up, a familiar flash in her sleepy eyes. A girl with long pink hair and an angry glint in her topaz eyes came marching up to the table. She put her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks.

"W-We know you're p-p-practically a juh-genius, Byakudan, okay? We geh-geh-het it," Pink Hair ranted. She was a stutterer. "B-B-But why? Why did you h-have to cuh-cuh-contradict — _contradict _— me in eh-eh-environmental science luh-hike that? I've never b-b-been so e-embarrassed!"

"I'm sorry about that, Tsubomi-chan," Kagome said. She sounded sincere.

The pink-haired girl named Tsubomi seemed disappointed to get an apology so quickly. She huffed, "Well…wuh-well, good! You shuh-shuh-should be!"

"Environmental science?" Chiyo piped up. Quite an advanced class for a first year. "How old _are_ you?" she asked Kagome.

"Seven."

"When's your birthday?"

"December 28."

Chiyo jerked back in surprise. "You're a second year? But you're so little!"

"I was born early."

"Y-Yeah, so this has b-b-been fun," Tsubomi chimed grumpily, "buh-buh-hut I'm l-leaving to hang out with my f-friends." Chiyo noticed that she was missing some teeth. Tsubomi flounced off.

"So…you're not her friends?" Chiyo asked.

"Tragically, no," Itoshi said sarcastically.

"She seems mean."

Kizuna shrugged. "Ehh…You just have to know how to handle Stuttering Tsubomi. Embarrassing her is a good route. Good work, Kagome."

Kagome smiled slightly.

Kizuna turned to Remon, who was staring at her hands on the table. "And what's the story with you? You and Kagome having a silent contest, or what?"

Remon looked up, a bit slow and confused from being pulled out of her trance. "E-er, wha…? Um…Sorry. I'm sort of…Kagome-chan may have lost the, uh, silent contest talking to Chiyo-chan."

Kizuna smiled. "Right you are, of course."

* * *

><p>They all played hide and seek tag during recess. Itoshi was it. Kizuna found a spectacular hiding place under the slide, and there she and Remon crouched, sufficiently concealed.<p>

"Oof," Kizuna groaned, shifting. "I feel like my spine's gonna telescope." She was bent way over with her back against the base on the slide.

"Kizuna-chan…?" Remon murmured shyly.

"Mm? What's wrong?" Kizuna looked at her best friend, her passionate brown eyes full of concern. She knew _something_ was wrong by how Remon was acting at lunch. Maybe now Kizuna would get peace of mind.

"It's, um…" Suddenly Remon felt embarrassed to talk about this. "It's about that kiss…"

"Oh, that." Kizuna laughed. "Sorry about that. That was just a cheap stunt so I could win. I _thought _it freaked you out, especially what with Itoshi's lesbian jokes."

"Cheap stunt…" Remon echoed faintly.

"Yeah. It was just a joke—" Kizuna promptly fell silent when she saw Itoshi's Reeboks shuffling through the wood chips. Remon was also quiet, but for a different reason. By the way Itoshi's shoes moved, it looked like he was turning about, scoping out obvious hiding places. Then, suddenly, his face appeared, his green eyes searching.

"Kiz! Remon!" he exclaimed.

Kizuna squealed and made a dash for the safe base. Remon, being lost in thought, was not as quick and Itoshi tagged her.

"You're 'it,' Remona Quimby!" he laughed. That was one of his strange nicknames for her, along with Fresh Squeezed Remonade (seeing as her name meant "lemon").

As Itoshi and Kizuna rounded up Chiyo and Kagome for another round Remon slowly, automatically crawled out from under the slide. _It was just a joke. _Remon had hoped that the kiss was just a joke, but now having that confirmed gave her a stomachache.

* * *

><p>Remon trudged up the painted wooden steps to the front porch of her house. Her parents were outside; Mrs. Natsume was tending her garden and Mr. Natsume was reading his book in a wicker chair. He looked up and happily greeted his younger daughter. He had short feathery blond hair and blue eyes.<p>

Remon managed a watery smile and returned the greeting.

"How was school?" Mrs. Natsume asked. She had shoulder-length wavy blue hair and brown eyes.

Remon cleared her throat. "Um…It was fine…Weird…It was okay." _I got kissed by my best friend as a joke. _She blushed. Wanting to avoid her parents' usual Spanish Inquisition, she darted into the house.

Mr. and Mrs. Natsume looked at each other oddly. A weird change had indeed came over their younger child.

* * *

><p>AN

Take it from an ex-stutterer: stuttering isn't something only shy people do. You could be as confident as Tsubomi and still be unable to say your name worth a damn. Think of Tsubomi's stutter as owing a little bit to her music background, tho' that's for a later chapter. Good thing Yaya isn't there to laugh at her when she tries to tell Y-Y-Yaya-senpai to t-truh-hy a luh-little h-harder.

Review this fic if it behooves you, and happy summer!

~Chiharu


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